Undue Influence

08/27/2018

“Last week, a judge in Tennessee ruled that the three children can dispute the validity of the wills that excluded them from inheriting. They petitioned the court to certify that a contest to the will exists, on grounds of his alleged lack of capacity and undue influence.”

The two wills at the heart of the case are from 2001 and 2006. The 2006 will names Campbell’s fourth wife Kimberly, who is the executor of the estate, and five of Campbell’s other children as his beneficiaries. Campbell went public with his Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2011, but it’s not known how far back his illness began. The legal burden facing his children: prove that he lacked the needed capacity to execute both wills.

If the will is deemed invalid because of lack of capacity or undue influence, the immediately preceding will is resurrected, said one estate planning attorney who is not affiliated with the case. The previous will probably disinherited them also, which is why they must prove the invalidity of both wills.

Kimberly has told a local newspaper that she would not challenge the kid’s right to contest the wills and the judge’s decision noted the lack of opposition. She has also filed a claim seeking reimbursement from the estate for more than $500,000 to cover the cost of his medical care.

It was also reported that one of his daughters, Debbie Campbell-Cloyd, has filed for a complete accounting of all payments made by the estate, as well as payments to and from a previously undisclosed bank account. She alleges that royalties that should have been deposited into an account controlled by Campbell’s estate, were instead deposited into this account, which is now controlled by Kimberly. The singer’s former manager has power of attorney over the account.

Multiple children from multiple marriages make estates complicated, even if you aren’t a legendary country music singer. For blended families, estate planning that includes family meetings can sometimes help prevent misunderstandings and estate battles.

06/27/2016

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was June 15, 2016. It is a good time to review some of the legal concepts that are often involved in elder abuse cases, such as undue influence.

It is estimated that approximately 2 million elderly people are financially abused in the U.S. every year. Estimates of the costs of this abuse vary widely from $2.9 billion to $36.48 billion a year. Either way, it amounts to a lot of money that is wrongfully taken from the elderly and their families.

As World Elder Abuse Awareness day occurred on June 15, 2016, it is a good time to take stock and review what happens in these cases. Recently, the Huffington Post discussed the concept of undue influence in "Undue Influence and Financial Exploitation."

A common way the elderly are abused is by someone convincing a senior to change his or her estate plan through undue influence. That basically means either through manipulation, fraud, deception or duress someone has inappropriately acted for his or her own financial benefit in convincing the elderly person to change the estate plan.

Undue influence is the legal term of art to describe these situations.

Unfortunately, undue influence can be very difficult to prove in court. The case normally does not come to attention until after a person passes away and family members learn the estate plan was changed. As the abused person is not able to testify about what happened, the family has a steep hill to climb to prove the case.

For this reason it is necessary to be on the lookout for potential elder abuse so it can be prevented.